


Even in Shadows I Feel Warm

by alphardhy



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Soft Boyfriends Being Soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 06:58:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8276890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphardhy/pseuds/alphardhy
Summary: Three things happen in Providence one Saturday night at ten o’clock.
One: The lights go out.
Two: The city goes dark.
Three: Eric Bittle goes weak at the knees.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I seem unable to stop writing fluff for these two. Sorry?
> 
> (Title from "Saltwater" by The Daydream Club.)

Three things happen in Providence one Saturday night at ten o’clock.

One: The lights go out.

Two: The city goes dark.

Three: Eric Bittle goes weak at the knees.

Deep down he knows he is safe in Jack’s apartment—the furniture is just furniture, there is no one under the bed, and the clothes in Jack’s closet have not magically turned into scary monsters with sharp fangs and claws—but believing such things is easier when you are holding some kind of light or someone else is holding your hand.

Jack went out with his teammates tonight for a change, and Eric left his phone charging in the bedroom to restrain himself from checking his notifications every five minutes while he was studying for a test, which means he is currently all alone in the living room, surrounded by darkness and too frightened to think straight. _Damn it_ , if he could just muster up some courage, he would grope his way to the bedroom and grab his phone at least. Easier said than done, though.

Eric sets his notebook aside, curls up on the couch and closes his eyes, drawing a shaky breath. He is not tired yet, not really, but sleeping seems like a good idea right now, the easiest way to deal with this fear of his. He clutches a pillow to his chest—Señor Bunny is on the nightstand—and thinks of soft blue eyes, gentle hands and the morning sun.

He falls asleep twenty-nine minutes later.

*

Eric wakes up at midnight to find himself under the covers of Jack’s bed. It is still dark, the pillow he had been holding earlier is nowhere to be found, and Jack is right beside him, propped up on his elbow and gently running his fingers through Eric’s hair. It is soothing, so very soothing, and so Eric’s first instinct is not to start looking for the nearest source of light this time. Instead, he scoots closer to Jack and wraps his arms around him, a sleepy smile crossing his lips.

“Sorry,” Jack whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“S’okay. I didn’t really mean to go to sleep that early. But suddenly the lights went out, and for once in my life I didn’t have my phone with me, and I didn’t know what to do, because _apparently_ I never got over this silly fear of the dark and—”

“Hey,” Jack cuts in; he is brushing his knuckles lightly across Eric’s cheek now. “It’s not silly. You know you can talk to me about that kind of stuff, right?”

Eric is feeling a bit drowsy, and he knows he would stumble over his words if he tried to tell Jack how much that means to him—how much Jack himself means to him—so he just nods and mumbles a clumsy _merci_.

It may be dark, but Eric swears the proud grin Jack flashes at him in that moment could light up the entire room.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at [lirapheus](http://lirapheus.tumblr.com). Thanks for reading!


End file.
